Tamarind monograph.pdf - Crops for the Future

plantation scale in India and Thailand, where the species is more
economically important. In India, it is most commonly grown in the drier
warmer areas of the South and Central region, where it thrives best, although
it is planted as far North as Punjab, where the fruits do not ripen (NAS,
1979; Sozolnoki, 1985 and Coates-Palgrave, 1988). Sometimes tamarind
groves are seen in India, these are thought to mark deserted villages.
The tree is believed to have been introduced to Sri Lanka in pre-historic
times (Watanabe and Dissanayake, 1999). It grows in the dry and
intermediate zones, up to an elevation of about 600 m through natural
regeneration or sometimes as a planted tree (Gunasena, 1999). It is very
conspicuous in the dry regions, every village having several, often
magnificent specimens. The trees are occasionally found apparently wild in
the jungle, but always on the sites of abandoned villages (Trimen, 1894).
Tamarind is often used as a roadside or avenue tree grown along canals,
particularly in the North and South dry zones (Macmillan, 1943). Similarly,
in the Philippines, tamarind is grown extensively as a backyard tree. Again
the time of introduction is unknown (Merril, 1912; Webster and Barrett,
1912; Villanueva, 1920; Webster, 1920, 1921; Brown, 1954). In Thailand,
the tree grows from sea level up to 2000 m and products are collected mostly
from wild trees, although a few small scale sweet tamarind orchards have
been established recently (Feungchan et al., 1996 a).
Tamarind is not commonly seen throughout Malaysia, except in the north
where the ecological conditions are better suited. It is not used for avenue
planting as in India, but occurs in towns and villages, chiefly in the
neighbourhoods of Indian dwellings (Corner, 1945). It is mainly cultivated
in the North at Penang and in the province of Wellesley. It has occurred as
an escape in Singapore on a rocky island in the Johor Strait and in Selangor
and Kedah (Ridley, 1922). Tamarind is commonly grown in the villages of
Myanmar, in dry areas where the rainfall varies from 230-400 mm, but is not
found in the wild state (Troup, 1921). Tamarind is also well established in
the dry areas of Fiji. It is believed to have been introduced by Indian
labourers for culinary purposes, but it is presently grown as a shade tree and
restricted to elevations below 230 m (Parham, 1972; Jayaweera, 1981).
1.6.3 The Americas
Patino (1969) states that the first reference to tamarind in the Americas is
from Acapulco (Mexico) in 1615, suggesting that it may have arrived from
Asia across the Pacific with the Spanish. Tamarind is now produced
commercially in Mexico and is widespread in the states of Chiapas, Colima,
Guerro, Jalisco, Oaxaca and Veracruz, covering an area of 4440 ha (10,000
acres). From Mexico, tamarind was probably introduced throughout tropical
America and the Caribbean Islands. The dates of introduction are unknown,
however it is thought to have occurred in Hawaii in 1797 where it persists
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